Going Global

Well, it’s official. I’ve quit my job, given notice on my flat and I’m currently selling sold almost everything I own. I’m trading all of that in for a one way ticket to the other side of the world with not much of a plan beyond that.

Yup, I’m going to Australia. I’ll be leaving on August 1st, armed with a 1-year work&travel visa, a backpack, my camera and a massive hunger for adventure. If all goes well, I want to move on to Asia and perhaps India after that. We’ll see.

Why am I doing this? Well, for the challenge, really. I’ve wanted to see the world ever since I first started thumbing through old issues of National Geographic magazine when I was a kid. That took a seat on the back-burner while I was busy doing other stuff, like going through education, building a design career, making awesome and very dear friends, trying new hobbies, failing relationships and getting drunk on weekends. As they say, life happened.

Not long ago, then, I got my hands on a global lifestyle magazine and it did a remarkable job of resurfacing that deep, forgotten longing. It’s not like I want to live the glamorous life portrayed in the magazine – I want to see the world as it is, city and country, rich and poor. It just reminded me that there is so much more going on in the world beyond our day jobs and evening parties. That may sound a little sad, but if we’re honest, we’re all sort of living in this comforting 9-to-5 bubble. Some friends I’ve made in recent years spend a lot of time traveling, incorporating that into their daily lives instead of just for holidays, and thus breaking that bubble. Watching this mobile lifestyle has been highly inspiring to me.

So I figured now is as good a time as any to just go for it. I’m still a city dweller at heart, so I don’t plan to slap on Birkenstocks, live in a tent and spend my days cursing the woes of capitalism. But I will strive to wander around a little aimlessly, do some couch surfing, try my hands at farm work and job around in Sydney or wherever opportunity and chance lead me. Perhaps I will stumble upon a career-changing idea along the way, who knows? I’m pretty much open to anything right now. I have no idea what I am doing and that’s exactly what makes this so exciting to me. It’s time to break out of my comfort zone and start living.